[Music]
[Music]
I’m super nervous right now I’m gonna be
completely honest my stomach is doing
that weird thing where you’re not sure
if you have to use the bathroom yet but
I’m gonna just rock with it um I don’t
know if you guys can tell I’m black and
clapping is a kind of thing that I think
I was born doing since 1987 for the rest
of us who are a little bit more I’ll say
pigma challenged I’m going to need your
help with this all right when I say the
word clap you need to clap once okay
just once let’s try it out okay clap
that’s like sexy let’s try it one more
time clap nice I’m dedicating this
performance to my grandmother
Inez Tilly Jorge who was passionate and
I believe that when we do what we do and
we believe in what we do we need to be
passionate so clap if you are alive
today if the Sun has tiptoed across the
horizon and danced on your skin if your
heart isn’t managed to beat a baseline
so magnificent clap if you don’t have to
look for a reason to live if you are
still looking if you are trying to make
sense of it all if you are still here
clap and don’t ever ever snap at least
not on my stage and not with my rage or
not with my joy or my filled please just
come get your fill if you know that
these words can kill if you are not
prepared so clap and please don’t snap
clap do it for the poet who was
experiencing love for the very first
time for the dancer who never thought
that he would move again for each story
told do it for the young man who turned
mountains into mice shadows into lights
who transformed hot our takes into
sonnets for the little girl who
discovered the Amazon in her voice who
took to the microphone like a moth to a
flame this ain’t
we don’t do this to entertain you see I
remember when I remember I remember when
I didn’t think that I had a voice when I
was convinced of this Western idea of a
red white and blue nightmare turn dream
turned fantasy he thought I wasn’t black
enough wasn’t straight enough wasn’t man
enough until I said enough and became
loud enough put heart to paper and put
this loosely fabric into my heart and
bled out this understanding of
declarations of experience you had the
nerve to snap word clap if you can tell
that this isn’t for you clap if you can
tell that this is all for you this ain’t
a shuck and jive poet for hire we don’t
do this to entertain you this is for you
who still can’t breathe for you who
don’t really know why we can’t breathe
this is for the fact that women are
still somehow only earning 77% of their
male counterparts clap if you’re ready
to flip
East Coast stomping rippin and Robbin
New York North Carolina and Compton if
you’re not sure why our news is still
focusing on dark Cheetos tweets after he
reactivated his Twitter accounts don’t
snap this is bigger than our screens
louder than a bomb and it deserves so
much more than your oh I guess it’s like
rats or poetry crap see this is real so
was the heart brought to this stage
don’t snap as if a poet didn’t just snap
as if he cracked his heart and pop your
perception of art wide open don’t snap
as if these are just words as he each
letter doesn’t burn don’t snap clap if
you can see that this is all for you who
knows what it feels like when a love can
love like lava for those of you who want
something real to hear real to listen to
real to believe in for you who don’t
bring umbrellas to monsoon season who
don’t bring knives to gun fights close
minds to open mics any shred of doubt to
the Paramount so please don’t snap clap
you didn’t get a chance to tell us a
little bit of your story how did you get
to this moment in terms of the work that
you do in Lynchburg disclaimer once
again I’m not from Lynchburg I’m from
Jersey Newark New Jersey to be exact
represented for Bricktown Brick City who
Deville for those who don’t know I moved
to Lynchburg in 2004 for college and I
ended up staying because I met this tall
South Carolinian Beauty who decided that
I was cool enough for her to marry and
we made two other people together um
but at the heart of it my family is West
Indian and with that I believe that with
that experience I was able to experience
a whole lot of beauty and magic and
creativity and art shout out to my dad
who put so much focus on art and music
and passion into that and I feel that
every young person needs to have that
kind of access because who are we if we
can’t lip-sync Bohemian Rhapsody in the
shower right with that had the concept
for an idea that we should be able to
have these passions and exist in these
passions without going to war does
anybody remember the Oh 12 elections I
can’t see your hands but I’m gonna
assume that they’re all up a lot of
dissent was felt between what people
believed and what they wanted to see
people were passionate but we shouldn’t
have to go to war and battle with each
other based on these passions we should
be able to discuss them engage in them
explore the person sitting next to us in
that we need to be able to listen to
each other hence the idea for the
listening and the listening is for those
who may not have seen it in the program
yet it’s a nonprofit organization that
was started back in 2013
I guess unofficially it was inspired by
an album by the hip hop group called
little brother if you’re hip-hop fan you
should know that album because one of
the songs is encouraging people to
consider what’s going on behind the
lyrics behind the beats of the music
that we listen to to dig deeper and I
feel that we as a culture as a community
should probably start doing that and it
starts with people who are very young
very energetic who have a lot to say I
just need to start listening to each
other
so thank you for your work and thank you
for your words
[Applause]
[Music]
I’m super nervous right now I’m gonna be
completely honest my stomach is doing
that weird thing where you’re not sure
if you have to use the bathroom yet but
I’m gonna just rock with it um I don’t
know if you guys can tell I’m black and
clapping is a kind of thing that I think
I was born doing since 1987 for the rest
of us who are a little bit more I’ll say
pigma challenged I’m going to need your
help with this all right when I say the
word clap you need to clap once okay
just once let’s try it out okay clap
that’s like sexy let’s try it one more
time clap nice I’m dedicating this
performance to my grandmother
Inez Tilly Jorge who was passionate and
I believe that when we do what we do and
we believe in what we do we need to be
passionate so clap if you are alive
today if the Sun has tiptoed across the
horizon and danced on your skin if your
heart isn’t managed to beat a baseline
so magnificent clap if you don’t have to
look for a reason to live if you are
still looking if you are trying to make
sense of it all if you are still here
clap and don’t ever ever snap at least
not on my stage and not with my rage or
not with my joy or my filled please just
come get your fill if you know that
these words can kill if you are not
prepared so clap and please don’t snap
clap do it for the poet who was
experiencing love for the very first
time for the dancer who never thought
that he would move again for each story
told do it for the young man who turned
mountains into mice shadows into lights
who transformed hot our takes into
sonnets for the little girl who
discovered the Amazon in her voice who
took to the microphone like a moth to a
flame this ain’t
we don’t do this to entertain you see I
remember when I remember I remember when
I didn’t think that I had a voice when I
was convinced of this Western idea of a
red white and blue nightmare turn dream
turned fantasy he thought I wasn’t black
enough wasn’t straight enough wasn’t man
enough until I said enough and became
loud enough put heart to paper and put
this loosely fabric into my heart and
bled out this understanding of
declarations of experience you had the
nerve to snap word clap if you can tell
that this isn’t for you clap if you can
tell that this is all for you this ain’t
a shuck and jive poet for hire we don’t
do this to entertain you this is for you
who still can’t breathe for you who
don’t really know why we can’t breathe
this is for the fact that women are
still somehow only earning 77% of their
male counterparts clap if you’re ready
to flip
East Coast stomping rippin and Robbin
New York North Carolina and Compton if
you’re not sure why our news is still
focusing on dark Cheetos tweets after he
reactivated his Twitter accounts don’t
snap this is bigger than our screens
louder than a bomb and it deserves so
much more than your oh I guess it’s like
rats or poetry crap see this is real so
was the heart brought to this stage
don’t snap as if a poet didn’t just snap
as if he cracked his heart and pop your
perception of art wide open don’t snap
as if these are just words as he each
letter doesn’t burn don’t snap clap if
you can see that this is all for you who
knows what it feels like when a love can
love like lava for those of you who want
something real to hear real to listen to
real to believe in for you who don’t
bring umbrellas to monsoon season who
don’t bring knives to gun fights close
minds to open mics any shred of doubt to
the Paramount so please don’t snap clap
you didn’t get a chance to tell us a
little bit of your story how did you get
to this moment in terms of the work that
you do in Lynchburg disclaimer once
again I’m not from Lynchburg I’m from
Jersey Newark New Jersey to be exact
represented for Bricktown Brick City who
Deville for those who don’t know I moved
to Lynchburg in 2004 for college and I
ended up staying because I met this tall
South Carolinian Beauty who decided that
I was cool enough for her to marry and
we made two other people together um
but at the heart of it my family is West
Indian and with that I believe that with
that experience I was able to experience
a whole lot of beauty and magic and
creativity and art shout out to my dad
who put so much focus on art and music
and passion into that and I feel that
every young person needs to have that
kind of access because who are we if we
can’t lip-sync Bohemian Rhapsody in the
shower right with that had the concept
for an idea that we should be able to
have these passions and exist in these
passions without going to war does
anybody remember the Oh 12 elections I
can’t see your hands but I’m gonna
assume that they’re all up a lot of
dissent was felt between what people
believed and what they wanted to see
people were passionate but we shouldn’t
have to go to war and battle with each
other based on these passions we should
be able to discuss them engage in them
explore the person sitting next to us in
that we need to be able to listen to
each other hence the idea for the
listening and the listening is for those
who may not have seen it in the program
yet it’s a nonprofit organization that
was started back in 2013
I guess unofficially it was inspired by
an album by the hip hop group called
little brother if you’re hip-hop fan you
should know that album because one of
the songs is encouraging people to
consider what’s going on behind the
lyrics behind the beats of the music
that we listen to to dig deeper and I
feel that we as a culture as a community
should probably start doing that and it
starts with people who are very young
very energetic who have a lot to say I
just need to start listening to each
other
so thank you for your work and thank you
for your words
[Applause]
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